Two teenage brothers accused of killing a 12-year-old New Jersey girl were ordered Friday to remain in a juvenile detention center at least for the next two weeks, a prosecutor's office spokesman said.

Superior Court Judge Colleen Maier remanded the brothers, ages 15 and 17, to stay in the detention center because she felt it would be "contrary to the well-being of the juveniles‚ÄĚ to free them, said Bernie Weisenfeld, a spokesman for the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office.

Autumn Pasquale, 12, was found dead Monday in Clayton, a southern New Jersey community of about 8,000 people roughly 25 miles south of Philadelphia. Her alleged killers turned themselves in Tuesday, accompanied by their attorneys.

Prosecutors say Autumn was lured to the boys' home the weekend of October 20, where they killed her - possibly for her BMX bike, which police found among some of the girl's belongings in a search Tuesday.

The girl was strangled and died from blunt force trauma, Gloucester County Prosecutor Sean Dalton has said, adding that preliminary findings showed no signs of sexual assault. Her body was found in a recycling container.

The suspects' mother later contacted police because of a suspicious Facebook posting, according to Dalton.

"I know she's up there ...," a distraught Anthony Pasquale, Autumn's father, told CNN affiliate WPVI in Philadelphia. "She's in good hands. She's going to be watching over us. She's going to be our little angel."

The county prosecutor's office has not formally requested that the case be moved from juvenile to adult court, though Weisenfeld said a decision on that could come within a few days. The next detention hearing for the suspects - who authorities cannot name, per New Jersey law, because they are juveniles - is scheduled for November 9.

soundoff(9 Responses)

Where is the outrage here? These boys are killers and should go to prison for life. The only reason this isn't being talked about more is because of race and the reluctance to discuss it as part of the story. How sad for both parents, and for all of us.

Go ahead and discuss it, if you want...although fanning the flames of racism doesn't solve anything, nor will it bring this child back, but hey, if it makes *you* feel better, go ahead and through some epithets around.

Why is this news? Two black teens kill another teen, just like they do every single day of the week. The ONLY reason this is front page material is because the victim was white. And people have the ignorance to ask why people so afraid of being victimized by black youth? Seriously?

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